1. Technical field
The present invention relates to a superheated steam generation container generating superheated steam by induction heating, a superheated steam generator utilizing this superheated steam generation container as a main component, and a superheated steam generation method of generating superheated steam using this superheated steam generation container.
2. Related Art
In recent years, an electronic microwave oven utilizing superheated steam has appeared on the market. Water is boiled at 100° C. at standard pressure to generate water vapor. The high-temperature superheated steam largely exceeding 100° C. can be obtained by removing moisture from this water vapor so as to be perfect gas, and further heating the water vapor. Cooking with no burn marks is allowed for a short time by heating food with this superheated steam. Further, the superheated steam can be utilized as a heat source for heating, sterilization, and disinfection of medical equipment.
As superheated steam generators which generate such superheated steam, for example, high-frequency heating apparatuses with a steam generating function are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-44993 (Patent Document 1), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-44994 (Patent Document 2), and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-275505 (Patent Document 3). However, these create superheated steam by heater heating, and do not create superheated steam by the induction heating by a high-frequency induction coil.
Further, superheated steam generators which introduce the steam generated within a high-frequency heating container into a conductor which forms a shield coil, reheating the introduced steam by an induction coil so as to be superheated steam, and extracting the superheated steam are also known (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-64367: Patent Document 4, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-147114: Patent Document 5). However, the structure in which cooling water is heated into steam by allowing the water to pass through a hose wound around an outer peripheral surface of the heating container and at the same time the heat of the surface of the heating container is insulated from a high-frequency heating coil by the cooling water is not seen.
Moreover, a related-art technique disposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-24336 (Patent Document 6) has a feature in the winding structure of an induction heating coil mounted on an outer periphery of a heat-resistant container. However, even in this related art, the structure in which cooling water is heated into steam by allowing the water to pass through a hose wound around an outer peripheral surface of the heating container and at the same time the heat of the surface of the heating container is insulated from a high-frequency heating coil by the cooling water is not seen.
For example, in the case of a middle-sized or home-available superheated steam generator, it is necessary to avoid enlargement of the apparatus, and it is conceivable to adopt a litz wire as the induction heating coil. Here, when the induction heating elements in the heating container are induction-heated, the outer surface temperature of the heating container also becomes high temperature by the generation of heat of the elements. Thus, when a litz wire is adopted as the induction heating coil, the coating of the litz wire may melt easily. As a result, the apparatus which generates superheated steam which exceeds 400° C. cannot be used practically.